Camera - Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide

Like Paus, Camera sound very much of a product of their environment, instead of Paus’s sound of whiskey and woozy mid-day sun, Camera have a much more austere, clinical Germanic sound. The rhythms are clipped and precise, the guitar sounds are harsh, shrill, like jagged glass, and the decorative washes of synths are warm and dreamy, driven by some incredible drumming throughout.

They are known in Berlin for being a band who turn up to play in public spaces without permission (shops, a U-Bhan platforms), and this kind of freeform jamming is something which is very apparent in their music. They jam, sure, but they’re also disciplined enough to avoid the inevitable meandering of such a thing.

Their metronomic krautrock is given a stamp of authenticity by being made by actual Germans, not English indie bands using a monotonous drum pattern or analogue computers. Since their 2012 debut they've come to the attention of heritage krautrock artist Michael Rother: ex-Kraftwerk, founding member of Neu! and Brian Eno collaborator. The fact that such a significant artist within this genre wanted to work with them is a massive stamp of approval, and on Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide, it’s very easy to hear why he’d want to collaborate with them.

It’s an album that could have been released in many different years, be it ’72, ’81, 93, or now. But it's in no way reductive - instead, it’s a progressive rethink which manages to sound familiar and contemporary. Opener “From The Outside” and its companion piece “To The Inside” are indicative of their approach; beat driven, techno inspired drum patterns which propel the driving basslines are topped off with atmospheric keywork, acting as 2014 re-dubs of “Autobhan” but released from its oppressive thirteen minute length and restructured into something resembling instrumental pop.

Being fully instrumental means that it’s the dense atmospherics that are centre stage, the crunching glammy rock of “Roehre” sounds like The Fall with a migraine and additional jazzy breaks of squealing saxophone. They make the switch from vague ambient atmospherics (the Boards of Canada-ish “Ozymiandas”) to direct (the jarring hard post-punk of “Trophaee”) sound like a simple one. Atmosphere is the driver here, and the atmosphere is pretty dark.

Fans of this kind of koschmiche music will know that the majority of the major albums were released during a short amount of time ('71-'75) with very few releases outside of that timeframe that could be classed alongside the likes of Amon Dull II’s Yeti, Can’s Ege Bamyasi or Cluster’s II. Obviously Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide won’t prove to be influential as those releases, but it’s a great way to take those first steps into krautrock before heading back to the source.